Basketball Game Preview: Cony Rams vs. Gardiner Tigers

The Cony Rams are taking a road trip to take on the Gardiner Tigers at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.

Cony is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Maine's top teams: Lawrence, who was ranked fourth at the time (Cony was ranked seventh). Cony was just a bucket shy of victory on Tuesday and fell 74-73 to Lawrence. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game on Thursday (68), the Rams still had to take the loss.

Meanwhile, it was a proper cat-fight when Gardiner took on Mt. Blue on Monday. Gardiner breezed by Mt. Blue to the tune of 61-21. That looming 61-21 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Tigers yet this season.

The victory was the third in a row for Gardiner, bringing their record for this year to 9-9. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 64.0 points per game. As for Cony, their loss ended a six-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 14-3.

Everything came up roses for Cony against Gardiner in their previous meeting two weeks ago, as the squad secured a 79-50 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cony since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.